Don't worry about the barrel burning out, unless you are going to shoot prairie dogs with it and you just can't control yourself with the number of rounds you shoot in a short order of time.
I like 162 grain Hornady spbt's and 154 grain Hornady Sp's. But you can't go wrong with 160 grain partitions - The 160 grain Nosler partitions shoot very well for me - I mainly use H4831 and now H4831SC. I have bought a few pounds of RE25 and will be doing some range work with that, this summer - that is the favorite powder for many. If the elk is standing sideways and not to distant most deer rifles would work. I'm not always that lucky. To me, the 7mm RM is the smallest rifle I'd use on elk, while others seem to like smaller cartridges, due to recoil, I suppose. I do not find recoil an issue and to me the 7mm RM is a mild cartridge.
